Views en route
Sailing to Grenada from Martinique provided us with some pretty views. Our insurance requires that we be south of 12 degrees 40 minutes north latitude by August 1st, so we had to skip St. Lucia as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
We plan to hit them on the way back north, depending on security concerns at the time. We did get to see the famous Pitons of St. Lucia from the water, and they were stunning.
After the sun set, we were fortunate enough to see a moonbow. I’m not sure if I had ever seen one before, but it was pretty neat (sorry but the picture is not very impressive).
Tyrell Bay
We arrived to Carriacou just before a big regatta, which turned out to be perfect timing. We got to see loads of sailing boats as they left and several hours returned after a sailing race around the small island.
The town is a nice sleepy town full of tiny roadside bars and roti joints. The people just generally seemed happy and friendly. We walked the strip a couple of times, picked up some essential food items, and drank a bit of rum punch and beer with our friends from Magistra.
After a while, we met up with Catnip and hiked up the hill for dinner at a delicious mom and pop restaurant called Tanty Mavis Eatery & Bar.
The sole exception to the rule for people being friendly was Medusa, the woman at customs and immigration in Tyrell Bay. Not sure what her real name is, but she was all death stare so Medusa seemed fitting. I went to check in with Jesse from Magistra and it was the worst check-in we’ve had, to date. First, the office hours listed on the door said lunch would be over at 1pm. How it really went was, she came back whenever she felt like it. It was only 15-20 minutes late, and we’re in the islands, so nothing unusual yet. Then, Jesse and I went inside to check in and she told me I had to do an online check-in before I was allowed inside. So I got kicked out. For the record, nothing anywhere says that the online check-in is required, but whatever.
After I finished the online process, I went back inside. There were three people inside so I got kicked out again (apparently another unwritten rule). When someone left, I went inside again. At that point the process was underway for me but had stopped abruptly for Jesse. They completed all of their pet paperwork for their dog when they departed St Martin but apparently needed written approval from the agricultural office in Grenada. Until that approval is given, she told him that if they see Ellie (the dog) ashore, they can shoot her on sight. What a warm welcome. Fast forward a few months and that approval has still never been granted.
She also yelled at one of us for talking to her about passports (immigration) while she was sitting at the customs desk. There were two desks in the room and she was the only person working. After she moved to the second desk, those questions were welcome. It was a complete shit-show.
Later, Scott from Catnip got yelled at for not having bringing his own pen. So that lady was horrible, but once we were done with her, it was a relief. I’m not looking forward to processing out when we head back north after hurricane season. Maybe she’s friendly to people who are leaving her country, IDK.
Runs
Grete and I started running consistently again while in Carriacou. We convinced our friend Jesse to accompany us. The heat and hills are utterly brutal, but the views always seem to be worth it.
Sandy Island
After a few days in Tyrell Bay, we went a few miles away and anchored near a small island called Sandy just north of Tyrell.
The beach is only a mile or two from Carriacou but it has no structures on it and is part of a wildlife preserve, so it has a very different feel.
The sand on the beach was the pinkest sand we’ve seen yet, despite false claims of pink sand beaches in the Bahamas.
Wildlife was abundant, and mostly bad at Sandy.
Birds kept crapping all over our solar panels and bothering the cats, specifically Tuna, by not being scared of anything.
There were also tons of mosquitoes in the anchorage. We were good the first night, but then they found us. We put in all of the screens and did what we could. Still a lot of mosquitoes to kill and many bites for us all, especially Fira - as usual. The crazy thing is that Catnip was also plagued by mosquitoes and Magistra, who was anchored right between us, didn’t have any. So many things in this life just don’t make a damned bit of sense.
Back on Carriacou is the Paradise Beach club, which is a popular spot for cruising boats on their way through.
Crews with artistic abilities and the desire to do so paint on small pieces of wood and the place nails them to a fence or wall.
It makes for pretty cool decor.
The trouble is though, Grete and I both hate crafty stuff and there were alcoholic beverages, so our board never got finished :)
The place had great food, cooked by an actual chef who knew what the ingredients were and could make things gluten free for us.
Additionally, they have a shuttle boat that picks you up at your boat and drops you back off, so you can drink and not worry about the dinghy ride back to the big boat.
One final touch was that it is right on the beach, so the kids just swam and played all afternoon and evening while the adults sat around socializing.
It was great and I am pretty certain we’ll return on our pass back north.
Sandy Island turned out to be a nice place to snorkel, I managed to spot a happening lobster spot with 10-20 spiny lobsters poking out at me.
The kids played in the sand, swam and built random stuff out of rocks and shells on shore.
We hung out on shore every day there just bonding as a family and also hanging out with the crews of Magistra and Catnip, never a bad time.
It’s been a great stop, but getting quite rolly and it’s time to continue south to the big island of Grenada to hunker down for a few months and settle into a ‘normal’ routine for a bit.